New Secrets
by The Design Nerd
Summary: When Mabel finds a book of her own, she must use its mysteries to save her brother from a sinister force, even if she does get a little sidetracked. No Pinecest. COMPLETE.
1. Discovery

**Chapter 1:**

"Why are you doing this?! You know Mabel doesn't like you anymore!" The boy  
then dropped his voice from a shout and mumbled under his breath, "Well, not  
that she ever liked you more than a friend/little sister in the first place."

"What was that you said, Dipper Pines?" Gideon's chubby face abruptly  
transformed from anger to complete rage as his hand tensed around his lucky  
bolo tie. With a quick raise of the opposite hand he lifted Dipper off the ground,  
rendering him helpless in midair. Dipper quickly overcame the fear for his life  
and stated plainly, "Why don't you just give it up, man? She'll never love you."  
Gideon's grip on the stone tightened further and the eerie blue-green light  
began to suffocate the one trapped inside its glow, not allowing for a single  
muscle to move.

"That's what you think! I know she loves me!" The blond boy replied, hatred  
fueling each word. By will and a simple flick of the wrist, he sent the twin  
careening into the totem pole in front of the Mystery Shack with a loud crack.  
As Dipper's vision faded into black, he watched as his worried twin came running  
out of the house-turned-tourist trap towards him.

"Gideon! What do you think you're doing?! If you really wanted me to like you,  
you could probably start off by NOT trying to kill my family." Mabel hissed at her  
brother's attacker, "How were you expecting this to end in me liking you?" She  
tried pulling her twin back into consciousness, but nothing she tried was working.  
Her eyesight blurred more and more each second as she looked upwards toward  
the assailant, fire mixing with her tears. She then ripped the amulet from his neck  
and crushed it into the pavement, much to Gideon's horror.

"Where do you keep getting these?" She wondered aloud. Suddenly powerless and  
without a decent lie, the only option Gideon could see was to run off into the woods  
toward home. She watched as he tripped over his own two feet and fell on his face  
but kept going, clearly without injury, unlike Dipper. The girl then returned her  
attention to her slightly younger twin. Becoming lost in her thoughts, Mabel kept  
reliving the past few moments, always cringing at the noise that signaled Dipper's  
injury. She shuddered, as if she felt the pain of the blow herself. "_Stupid twin powers.  
I hate how I can feel what he feels, even though it is kind of cool." _She thought to  
herself as she looked down at Dipper. He was slowly starting to regain consciousness,  
mumbling something about Gideon. "I guess I better get you inside, huh, little  
brother?" She asked Dipper, knowing she wouldn't get a reply.

With the help of the adrenaline still coursing through her veins, Mabel managed to half-  
carry, half-drag the semi-conscious Dipper into the Shack, up to the attic, and onto his  
bed. Still trying to relax and get back to sleep, Mabel stared out the triangle-shaped  
window at the sunrise creeping its way over the mountains, when out of the blue, a  
flicker of gold caught her eye. "_What is that? I might as well check it out while I'm up."_

Mabel clearly had given up on sleeping at that point. She threw on a hand-knit sweater  
with a large pig face in the center. _"I hope Waddles likes the matching __sweaters I made  
us," _She thought while she squeezed her pet pig into a crudely-knit sweater with an even  
more crudely-knit self portrait of herself in the middle. The animal did not look pleased,  
but reluctantly submitted to what was now apparently _Match Clothes with Your Pet Tuesday._  
Waddles followed her out into the parking lot, where she had seen the shiny object.

"_It almost looks like a book," _Mabel thought, her pig trailing closely behind her, "_Maybe  
someone lost it on their trip to the Shack."_ As she got closer, however, the book looked  
more and more familiar. In a wall-eyed goat's mouth was a tattered journal identical to  
Dipper's in every way, except with a two replacing the three on a six-fingered hand.


	2. Awakening

**_"It almost looks like a book," Mabel thought, her pig trailing  
closely behind her, "Maybe someone lost it on their trip to the  
Shack." As she got closer, however, the book looked more and  
more familiar. In a wall-eyed goat's mouth was a tattered  
journal identical to Dipper's in every way, except with a two  
instead of a three on a six-fingered hand._**

Dipper quickly sat up straight in his bed, immediately regretting it.  
He quickly laid back down and gripped his head in agony, trying to  
help the sharp pain subside. It wasn't working. _"How did I get up  
here? Last thing I knew I was…Agghh!" _The pain echoing through  
his skull clouded his thoughts, not allowing for a single one to be  
completed.

Instead of trying to think, Dipper just slid as slowly as possible  
from his bed and allowed his feet to hit the cold, splintery floor.  
If it wasn't bad enough, not only were his legs like jell-o and his  
eyes unfocused, but it seemed like each step added more and  
more intensity to the boy's headache. Blinded by the aching  
mental fog, he didn't even notice Mabel walk into the room,  
"Here! Drink this!"

Dipper winced at the sound of his sister's excited yelling, "Wait.  
Why? What is this, Mabel? Is this another one of your weird  
combinations like the one you keep in the fridge? I'm definitely  
not trying that again. I was sick for days." He trembled at the  
thought and placed his palm on the back of his head, flinching  
as he did so, still trying to ease to pain from the blow he didn't  
remember.

The next thing he knew, his twin forced the concoction into his  
face, sending the disgusting liquid down his throat. Between  
coughs, Dipper tried saying something and eventually caught  
his breath: "What? Why. Why would you-" His anger rose but  
dropped when he realized his headache had instantaneously  
subsided and his legs felt stronger than ever, "Wait. What  
was that?"

"That's the Mabel difference!" Mabel said with a braces-filled  
smile reaching from ear to ear, "It worked, Dippingsauce! It  
worked!" His twin jumped up and down with a squealing Waddles,  
a look of accomplishment plastered across her face. Dipper was  
obviously still in the dark and tilted his head to one side, questioning  
her behavior…also why her pig was now wearing sweaters. _"Okay,  
Okay. Something's definitely going on here. I must still be dreaming.  
Yeah, that has to be it."_ Dipper thought as he watched his sister  
celebrate whatever it was she was so excited about. "What worked,  
exactly? I mean it obviously helped, but what was it?"

"Oh. I thought you were awake when I told you I found this!" The  
girl triumphantly pulled a book labeled two from within a towering  
pile of sweaters that was congregating in the middle of the floor.  
They quickly fell into a heap, sprawling across the floor. "I'll fix that  
later," she stated, not even bothering to look back at the mess she  
created.

Mabel set the journal down in front of Dipper as his eyes widened at  
the sight. "This is amazing! Where'd you find it? I always figured there  
were others, but I just never thought-wow!" He exclaimed while leafing  
through the many pages, all of them complete, unlike book three. Suddenly,  
the look of confusion returned to his face, "But I don't get it. What does  
this have to do with the-" He stopped in mid-sentence. The pages had  
turned to a section dedicated to healing potions, as if answering his  
question. The question he hadn't even fully formed yet.

The twins stared at the hand-written book in awe for a moment, both  
thinking of how often three had foreshadowed the future. They realized  
now it was no coincidence. Dipper chuckled nervously at the awkwardness  
the journal created in the room and tried breaking the silence, "Okay, well  
that was creepy. I got my answer though, I guess." He paused a moment,  
"So, where did you find this? And how did I get up here? Last I remember,  
I was trying to stop Gideon from forcing you to go on another date and then-  
SHABAM! I wake up in my bed." He kept flipping through the pages while  
Mabel explained about him being thrown into the totem pole, her crushing  
Gideon's amulet and him running off, how she managed to carry him upstairs,  
and finally finding the journal.

Just then, Dipper noticed something strange, yet familiar on one of the pages:  
instructions for creating something called a mystic amulet that gave the bearer  
telekinetic and psychic powers. It was exactly like Gideon's, even to the point of  
the aura being described as blue-green. The twins exchanged a look. Everything  
fit together now clear as day. When Gideon tripped while trying to escape, his  
book must have fallen out from the inside of his blue suit. Without a doubt, he  
would be back to look for it, seeking revenge once he realized it was missing.


	3. Made Me Realize

_**Just then, Dipper noticed something strange, yet familiar on one of  
**__** the pages: instructions for creating something called a mystic amulet  
that gave the bearer telekinetic and psychic powers. It was exactly  
like Gideon's, even to the point of the aura being described as blue-  
green. The twins exchanged a look. Everything fit together now clear  
as day. When Gideon tripped while trying to escape, his book fell out  
from the inside of his blue suit. Without a doubt, he would be back to  
look for it, seeking revenge once he realized it was missing.**_

Dipper's face morphed from smiling to a look of horror upon noticing who the  
journal belonged to. The way things were going, the next fight with Gideon  
would surely be his last and he wanted that to stay far, far away. He swallowed  
hard when he realized he was actually _scared_ of the fluffy-haired pageant kid.  
Mabel noticed the look in his eyes right away and decided to help.

"Psshh! Dipper, calm down and stop ackin' so cray-cray. He's not gonna be able  
to anything about it! We have his book and I already destroyed his amu-whatever.  
So what's he even supposed to do? Suffocate us with his hairspray?!" She started  
laughing at this thought then went silent, "Wait, can you do that?" Her voice trailed  
off into mumbles on how hair product could be used as weaponry.

"Amulet_._ It's an _amulet_, Mabel," Dipper stated matter-of-factly, snapping his sister  
back into reality, "Plus, we don't even know if he has any other stuff he could use  
against us or anyone else for that matter." He looked back down at the journal and  
remembered it was filled with magical tools and weapons. Obviously this time they  
had the upper hand.

Back at Gideon's house, the spoiled kid was half interrogating his parents, half  
destroying precious family heirlooms. "What do you mean you don't know what I'm  
talking about?!" the less-than-threatening-looking kid fumed. His father replied in a  
thick Southern drawl, "I never saw no red book anywhere, son. I don't rightly know  
what you're talking about. Now will you please eat your ice cream; it's melting. I even  
took out the nuts for you, sugar pie!"

"I will accept this ice cream...BUT LATER YOU WILL PAY! YOU WILL BOTH PAY!"

Meanwhile in the woods, Mabel looked around suspiciously, "Did you hear something?"  
Dipper shook his head in reply and returned his gaze to the new book.

"We should only use the information in this book for protection against magical creatures  
and people like Old Man McGuckett and Gideon. Actually, we should probably get started  
building our defenses now before _he_ comes back," the boy stated as he led the way into  
the woods.

Mabel piped in, "You mean Old Man McGuckett? He hasn't bothered us except  
for at the pool with the lotion and that one time with the gobble-" Her brother cut her off  
with a glare, "Ohhhhh…Gideon. I knew that. And we're _only _going to use that journal  
which has all sorts of amazing fun stuff in it to protect us and that's it? Laaaaaame."

Dipper replied, "Hey I just don't want this to get out of hand. Things have a tendency to  
do that around here if you haven't noticed." The older Pines huffed in reply and looked at  
her shoes, "I get it. It's still lame though." She kicked a pebble and it mysteriously landed  
right next to the first thing on their list to create amulets of their own.

Dipper glared at Mabel, then returned to his book, "It says here that you need one of those  
growing/shrinking crystals first. Oh. Here they are. That's convenient. I guess that gives  
the amulets some of their power? Well, this hasn't been wrong before!"

Dipper pulled out his Swiss Army knife and pried out a few small crystals from the random  
pile of gems in the brightly-lit clearing. "Okay! Crystals, check!" Dipper checked off the item  
on his ridiculously long checklist as the two continued talking as they wandered deeper into  
the forest.


	4. Suspicions

**_Dipper pulled out his Swiss Army knife and pried out a few small crystals from the random  
pile of gems in the brightly-lit clearing. "Okay! Crystals, check!" Dipper checked off the item  
on his ridiculously long checklist as the two continued talking as they wandered deeper into  
the forest._**

Back at the shack, the twins spread out their collection onto the floor in the attic, next to the  
collapsed heap of sweaters Mabel still hadn't cleaned up.

"And you told methat I don't pick up _my_ laundry?" Dipper casually commented, thinking back  
to the other day when they fought and decided to change rooms.

"Hey! At least those are clean, unlike this-this…I think these are underwear?" Mabel's concerned  
eyes were drawn to a pair of underwear stuck to a pizza slice, an old, half-eaten packet of Smile  
Dip, and at least four other unidentifiable things, "Dipper, are you sure this isn't a creature in  
your book?" She shot him a weird look.

He shrugged then crossed his noodle arms in response, "Maybe it is! Like I said before, I'm a  
busy guy."

"And yet you have time to read like 50 bazillion mystery novels?"

"That's more important."

"Plus, I guess you really _do _wear the same shorts everyday…Literally! Womp, womp! Wait,  
that's gross."

Dipper ignored the last comment and attempted to block out her incessant giggling as he  
started looking through the strange assortment of things they collected in the forest earlier.  
That's when he noticed something that wasn't on his checklist.

"Hey what's this?" he pointed to a bunch of unusual-looking pink and red flower petals,  
coupled with what appeared to be snips of vines.

"I…thought they were pretty? Yeah. I thought they were nice." She struggled to form even a  
phony-looking smile. Dipper glared at her for a moment as beads of sweat formed on her  
brow from the pressure.

Dipper smiled, "Okay then…You alright, Mabel?"

"NEVERBETTER! I'm certainly not planning anything or something if that's what you were  
thinking…" the girl blurted out. Her unnatural and slightly deranged smile coupled with the  
drawn-out silence was making both of them uncomfortable, "What's that, Grunkle Stan?  
I'M COMING!"

"What? I didn't call you!" the old man yelled over the TV from the living room couch. Mabel  
face palmed. Of course he wouldn't just go with it.

"Yeah you did, Grunkle Stan!"

"No, I'm pretty sure you—"

"YES YOU DID." Mabel tensely stated through gritted teeth, her braces whistling as she  
did so.

"Yeesh, kid. Alright, alright. I 'called you.' I 'need your help.'" Stanford lied sarcastically using  
air quotes every chance he got, clearly exhausted at the argument he was having with a  
12-year-old girl.

"See. I told you Dipper!" She looked around awkwardly before dashing out of the room, not  
before running face-first into the door frame, "I'm Okay!"

Dipper started clicking his favorite pen violently, "She's definitely up to somethi— Wait. Where  
did this come from?" He glanced down at his hand with a puzzled look on his face and tossed  
the pen aside, "She's definitely up to something, but what?"

The writing utensil had somehow ended up back in his grasp, "Will you get out of here?!" He  
threw it towards the window then jumped to his feet in surprise, "Soos?"

"Sorry, dude. Stan told me to fix your window. I'll leave once I'm done. Actually, I can't believe  
you didn't notice me before." Soos stated while ripping a piece of duct tape from the roll. He  
placed it over the shattered glass along with a couple wads of chewing gum, "I couldn't help  
but overhear your conundrum. So, you think Mabel's hiding something? She _was_ acting pretty  
suspicious."

"Yeah. I guess she seemed pretty bummed earlier when I told her she shouldn't use the journ—  
er, I mean her vast knowledge of, um…knitting needles for anything except what they were  
meant to do."

"Yeah, I remember that one time she tried to use them instead of yarn to make me a sweater.  
I still have the scars," He shuddered at the visions flashing through his mind while rubbing his  
side, his eyes blank and unmoving for a moment as he relived the terror.

"It's just she normally tells me everything! I don't know, you wouldn't understand." Dipper  
curled his legs up to his chest.

The man-child finally snapped out of it, "Huh? What? I totally missed what you were saying.  
Oh yeah, dude, your window's done!"

The kid looked up disapprovingly at the sticky mess that now blocked his view of the mountains.  
Just then, a bird flew into the window and stuck to it. Dipper smiled nervously and gave the  
handyman a weak thumbs-up.

_"I have to figure out what she's up to…" _ a fierce look of determination appeared on his face.


	5. Mysterious

**_Chapter 5:_**

**_The man-child finally snapped out of it, "Huh? What? I totally missed what you were saying.  
Oh yeah, dude, your window's done!" _**

**_The kid looked up disapprovingly at the sticky mess that now blocked his view of the mountains.  
Just then, a bird flew into the window and stuck to it. Dipper smiled nervously and gave the  
handyman a weak thumbs-up._**

**_"I have to figure out what she's up to…" A fierce look of determination appeared on his face._**

Dipper started pacing back and forth across the floor. He noticed Mabel finally cleaned up her mess, but  
that didn't matter right now. He had to figure out what his sister was up to. It's just not in her character  
to hide things from him, although it did seem like she was hiding more stuff from him lately, like meeting  
vampires and Mermando being a merman (in hindsight though that was kind of obvious).

He kept thinking out loud about all the possible clues, "We found the book, well, she found the book. She  
said I was boring. But she says that all the time. I don't get it! Why would she get so defensive over some  
flowers and vines? Flowers and vines. Flowers and vines! That's it! There has to be a connection between  
the book and the flowers and vines!"

With a giant smile on his face, Dipper ran over to the bookshelf at the base of his bed. Right next to his  
summer reading list was the field guide, much to his pleasure. He loved gaining knowledge about practically  
anything, well, except romance novels. No one should read 38 sequels to a terrible book about muscular  
werewolves, especially when those same werewolves couldn't keep their shirts on if they tried. He shook the  
thought out of his mind and flipped through the field guide, trying to identify the plants he saw. He reached  
back behind him and grabbed for the flowers he had laid out earlier.

"Ouch!" Dipper snapped back his hand and noticed it had a few reddish thorns stuck in it, "Well, I guess  
you're the first one on the list."

He flipped through the pages to the section on flowers with thorns and discovered a picture of the plant in  
question, "It is a well known fact that the…the…"

Dipper squinted then rubbed his eyes. He couldn't quite make out the rest of the sentence for some reason.  
Clearly rubbing his eyes didn't help at all, it just made the blurring worse with the added sensation of burning  
pain. The boy tried to call for help, but noticed his voice was suddenly raspy. He began feeling weak and tired  
at about the same time the room started spinning around him.

_"What is this, try to kill Dipper week?!" _He thought to himself, his words failing him. Dipper looked down at  
his hand which was still covered in tiny thorns and began pulling them out, hoping to slow whatever reaction  
was happening. He was stopped, however, when the drowsiness overcame him and he fell to the floor with a  
thump, his reference books surrounding him. He groaned and his eyes shut involuntarily as he was forced into  
a deep sleep.

"Huh? What was that?" Stan looked around suspiciously, "Mabel, go make sure there's no raccoons in the attic.  
Here, take this broom to defend yourself. Oh, and-uhh-don't get rabies. Shots are expensive, ya know."

Mabel grabbed the broom from her great uncle, "If there is a raccoon, can we keep it? I'm sure Waddles would  
love another friend to keep him company!"

"The only way I'd keep a raccoon in the shack is if it's a hat. Like Lewis and Stark." Stan stated plainly.

"Lewis and Stark? I'm pretty sure it was Lewis and _Clark, _Grunkle Stan."

"Meh, tomato, potato. Just get moving on getting that raccoon out of here!"

Mabel walked up the steps to the room she shared with her twin, broom in hand. She cautiously opened  
the door, preparing to see yet another animal in her room. All she saw was her brother, asleep within a  
pile of books.

"What the hey-hey, Dippingsauce? You always say this floor is too splintery for anyone to walk on, yet  
you're sleeping on it? Weird. Anyway, Grunkle Stan probably needs us downstairs. So get ready for the  
fun stick! Wop!" Mabel poked her brother with the broom but he wouldn't budge. She was expecting  
some sort of reaction.

She laughed nervously, "Okay, Dipper. This isn't funny anymore. Dipper?"

The girl looked around at the scene in front of her. It seemed as if Dipper was researching something  
and just fell asleep, but there was a weird feeling that she couldn't shake. Something just wasn't right.  
She got down to her brother's level and noticed that his hand was clenched shut and he was shivering  
in his sleep. She touched it only to realize he was running a fever.

"I don't get it. You were fine earlier. It must've been that unnatural brown meat in a can Stan fed us for  
lunch." Mabel assumed as she uncurled Dipper's hand, trying to see what he was holding, when she saw  
the thorns stuck in his palm. She stepped back from her brother and saw the books opened next to one  
of the flowers she had collected earlier. The field guide's page matched up with the spiky plant perfectly.

She started to read, "Aconitum Rougellus also known as Nightflower: A flashy perennial plant that grows  
to about 4 inches high and flowers in early to mid-summer. Normally growing in small groups, these star-  
shaped flowers are produced in tones of blue, violet, and red. The leaves are glossy, dark green and are  
arranged like fingers on a hand, while the stem is covered in small, red thorns. It is a native perennial found  
in the northwestern United States and some parts of Canada."

Her eyes widened as she read the next lines, "This plant is poisonous to humans, with most of the toxins  
found in the thorns. Side effects include nausea, cold sweats, drowsiness, blurred vision, fever, and confusion.  
Long-term effects can range in severity from nonexistent to amnesia because of the trauma. If thorns are  
embedded in the skin, the best course of action is to remove them as quickly as possible and seek immediate  
medical attention."

Mabel looked back at her twin and started to tear up. "_This couldn't be happening to Dipper." _She thought,  
"_He's way too careful. He wouldn't just…" _ She glanced over at the flower again and grasped the fact that it  
was _her _fault. _"If I hadn't been secretly looking for ingredients for a potion to finally get my epic summer  
romance, Dipper wouldn't have tried solving the mystery." _the girl contemplated as she started pulling out  
thorns from his hand.

When she finished, Mabel walked solemnly back downstairs, "Grunkle Stan! Something's wrong with Dipper!"

"It better not be rabies!"


	6. Uneasy

**_Mabel looked back at her twin and started to tear up. "This couldn't be  
happening to Dipper." She thought, "He's way too careful. He wouldn't  
just…" She glanced over at the flower again and grasped the fact that  
it was her fault. "If I hadn't been secretly looking for ingredients for a  
potion to finally get my epic summer romance, Dipper wouldn't have tried  
solving the mystery." the girl contemplated as she started pulling out thorns  
from his hand._**

**_When she finished, Mabel walked solemnly back downstairs, "Grunkle Stan!  
Something's wrong with Dipper!"_**

**_"It better not be rabies!"_**

Stanford Pines rose up from his favorite chair and slowly walked up the steps toward the  
twins' room. He thought_, "It really can't be that terrible. Mabel loves to exaggerate, same  
with Dipper. He's probably just-" _

When he finally reached the attic, his jaw dropped. He couldn't believe his eyes: the kid was  
actually unconscious on the floor. Of all the things to go wrong while he was in charge of the  
twins, it had to be this. It had to be what looked to be life-threatening. While he was frozen in  
place, a terror-stricken Mabel shoved the field guide in his wrinkled face, trying to explain what  
had happened at a million miles an hour. He wordlessly waved her away and made his way over  
to his great nephew who was clearly not in good shape.

"Mabel, go get help!" the man shouted gruffly as he tried waking Dipper up, "Okay, kid. Wake up.  
Come on. Just when I started to get used to you two around here, this happens. Who's gonna wear  
the preteen wolf suit now? Certainly not Soos."

A picture formed in the back of his mind featuring his most loyal employee having just managed to  
stuff himself into the tiny fur pants he just ordered. He shook his head, trying to erase that scarring  
image from his brain and shook his nephew once more. Just then, Dipper stirred and tried to sit up,  
immediately squinting his eyes to protect them from the daylight. His great uncle looked on in  
astonishment at the boy who was just unresponsive a few seconds earlier.

"Where am I?" He said as he drowsily rubbed his eyes and fought to stay awake.

"Oh no. He's got amnesia! His parents will sue me for sure! I'm too young to be broke! It's not like I'm  
made of money!" Stanford shoved the $50 bill that fell to the floor back into his pocket and nearly broke  
down like the time he thought the IRS found out he was committing major tax fraud.

"Grunkle Stan. GRUNKLE STAN! I just can't see clearly. Am I still in my room?" Dipper asked with a  
yawn, almost falling back onto the floor.

"Great. Now you're blind. I'll need to get you a Seeing Eye Bear now! Do you know how hard it is to train  
a bear?!"

"I'm not blind, my vision's just a little blurry is all," the 12-year-old stated with a still-raspy voice, "Besides,  
a bear? Seriously? The only bear I'd let help me out is the multi-bear."

"Multi-bear?" the old man cocked his eyebrow.

"Yeah. I sang BABBA with him." the boy said with a smile.

His great uncle looked confused. "Yepp. It's official then."

"What is?" Dipper asked.

"You've lost your mind, kid. Take the rest of the week off to get back to your senses."

"But it's Saturday, Grunkle Stan. I think so anyway. How long was I out?"

The old man stared at his nephew and started to walk back downstairs, "Fine. I'll give you 'til Tuesday."

"HEY, WAIT!" the still-uneasy tween yelled down the hallway. There was no response.

"Aaaaand I'm stuck here on the floor. Typical Stan." he said quietly, crossing his arms.

Just then, Mabel burst into the room hugging Dipper so tightly he could barely breathe.

"I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE OKAY!" She squealed with excitement.

"Ma…bel…need…to..breathe." He managed to whisper before his twin released him. He coughed a couple  
times and finally regained his breath.

"Hey Mabel, can you help me onto my bed? I'm still pretty out of it, if you couldn't already tell. Plus, I'm  
getting completely covered in splinters…" He said as another wave of dizziness rushed over him, causing  
him to shut his eyes and grab his marked forehead.

"Sure, Dip! What are twins for?" She tried to support her brother, but he was too unsteady and they both  
fell to the ground. In a stroke of pure luck, Soos appeared in the doorway.

"I hear you dudes need help?" He asked, biting into yet another corn chip. They both nodded happily in  
response. The handyman picked up Dipper with nearly no effort and set him on his bed so he could rest.  
He automatically drifted back into a restless sleep as Mabel and Soos left.


	7. Shadows

**Good news, everyone! I've started another story called Lil Ol' Me  
if you're interested in a Gideon backstory. I also wanted to thank  
you guys for all the support so far on this story (it's the first fanfic  
I've ever written by the way). I never expected this to be so popular!  
Anyways, here's the next chapter of New Secrets :)**

* * *

_"Hey Mabel, can you help me onto my bed? I'm still pretty out of it, if you  
couldn't already tell. Plus, I'm getting completely covered in splinters…" He  
said as another wave of dizziness rushed over him, causing him to shut his  
eyes and grab his marked forehead._

_"Sure, Dip! What are twins for?" She tried to support her brother, but he was  
too unsteady. In a stroke of pure luck, Soos appeared in the doorway._

_"I hear you dudes need help?" He asked, biting into yet another corn chip. They  
both nodded happily in response. The handyman picked up Dipper with nearly  
no effort and set him on his bed so he could rest. He automatically drifted back  
to a restless sleep as Mabel and Soos left._

* * *

Dipper looked around. It was almost as if he was back in the bottomless pit, except  
instead of constantly falling, he could easily walk around in the inky blackness that  
seemed to go on forever. A light shone down from overhead, spotlighting him but  
not allowing anything else to be seen.

"Hello?" the 12-year old asked uncertainly, nearly yelling into the dark nothingness,  
"Hmm…must be a dream sequence."

He shrugged off the creepy atmosphere and started walking aimlessly through the  
abyss, this time with a hint of a smile on his face and a spring in his step. As soon  
as Dipper passed the boundary of the spotlighted area however, a familiar voice  
resonated through the space, sending chills not just down his spine, but to his very  
core. He stopped in his tracks, but not by his own will.

"Why fancy meetin' you here, Dipper Pines," a strangely-shaped figure stepped out  
of the shadows, inspecting his left hand with a look of disgust while the right grasped  
an aqua gem that sat at the base of his pudgy neck.

"Gideon." Dipper sighed with a roll of his eyes. It was all he could manage; the rest of  
his body refused to move as it was still trapped in the faint neon glow.

The blond boy circled around Dipper like a shark, "So, I hear you have a bit of a…umm...  
predicament on your hands, Pines. Or should I say, in them?" he asked, raising his  
eyebrows, a devious grin stretching from ear to ear.

"Wait, how did you know that?" the twin suspiciously looked side to side.

"Did ya really think my sweet peach dumplin' would've allowed such a dangerous plant into  
your possession? Didn't ya find it suspicious that she has no effects from the thorns, yet she  
'picked' them?" the tall-haired boy questioned with a sly look across his face.

"_YOU _did this to me? You realize you have your…apple dumpling-'" Dipper cringed at saying  
the words aloud.

"Peach. Peach dumplin'." Gideon corrected.

"Well, whatever creepy nickname you have for Mabel. You have her feeling all guilty! She  
thinks _she_ poisoned me!" the younger Pines fumed.

Gideon returned to looking at his nails, eyes lowered, "All the better. She'll have no one but  
me to console her once the rest of my plan comes into play."

"Rest of your plan?! Poisoning me and racking Mabel with guilt wasn't it?"

"Nope. In fact, phase two is already in progress," the southerner looked up with a smirk and  
replied, staring intensely at his arch-enemy the entire time.

"And you're powerless to stop me." he continued, lifting Dipper's terrified yet determined face  
upwards towards his devious one using the aura from his amulet, "This'll teach you to steal  
from Lil Ol' Me!"

With that, Gideon disappeared completely. The last words he yelled continued to ring through  
the nothingness like an empty cave. After being released from the torturous glow, Dipper fell  
to the ground, muscles aching from being held in the same agonizing position for so long. He  
dusted off his trademark pine tree hat and set it back atop his messy hair.

The next thing Dipper knew, his eyes fluttered back open. He was back at the Mystery Shack,  
in the same room, on the same bed, with the same dizzying sensation overtaking his thoughts.  
He realized that despite the circumstances, he had never felt so relaxed before, like all the  
pressures of life were lifted off his relatively weak shoulders. It was a strange sensation really;  
almost an out-of-body experience. And that's when the true meaning of Gideon's words hit him  
like a ton of bricks.

_"She'll have no one but me to console her once the rest of my plan comes into play."_

_"In fact, phase two is already in progress."_

_"And you're powerless to stop me."_

The words rang through his mind and the peaceful feeling left, only to be replaced with the desire—  
no—the _need_ to follow Gideon's commands that began to pour over his own thoughts. Gideon was  
right: this time, Dipper truly was powerless to stop him.

* * *

**Wow! Stopping both my stories at main plot points...I feel evil. Review/Favorite/Follow  
please! It gives me inspiration for continuing to write my stories :D**


	8. Strings Attached

**Guys. I am so sorry about making you wait over a month for this. I, kinda, sorta, maybe forgot about this story. Well you may have to reread the previous chapter filled with creepiness to get back into the story, but here it is: the long-awaited return of New Secrets! Also, I'm working on reformatting my stories so they're spaced normally (the mobile version looks ****_terrifying!_****), so if you could click on story spacing in the options and make it ½, the chapter would be more easily read.**

* * *

_The next thing Dipper knew, his eyes fluttered back open. He was back at the Mystery Shack, in the same room, on the same bed, with the same dizzying sensation overtaking his thoughts. He realized that despite the circumstances, he had never felt so relaxed before, like all the pressures of life were lifted off his relatively weak shoulders. It was a strange sensation really; almost an out-of-body experience. And that's when the true meaning of Gideon's words hit him like a ton of bricks._

_"She'll have no one but me to console her once the rest of my plan comes into play."_

_"In fact, phase two is already in progress."_

_"And you're powerless to stop me."_

_The words rang through his mind and the peaceful feeling left, only to be replaced with the desire—no—the need to follow Gideon's commands that began to pour over his own thoughts. Gideon was right: this time, Dipper truly was powerless to stop him._

* * *

Dipper walked somewhat clumsily down the steps and into the living room with a blank look on his face, staring into the distant nothing. His movements were jagged and unnatural. Combined with the glazed-over eyes, he looked like something straight out of a horror movie. Mabel picked up on this as soon as she noticed a fly walk straight across his eye, not even causing so much as a blink or an uncomfortable twitch.

"Heyyyyy broseph…you okay?" she asked with a nervous chuckle, trying to literally snap him back to reality. He just continued standing there as if he was frozen in place.

"Maybe you should go back to bed so you can sleep off whatever," she swept her arms in front of her dramatically, "_this _is."

Mabel gave up on talking to him and slung one of her brother's noodle arms around her shoulder, making herself a makeshift crutch. While bringing the dazed boy back up to their shared bedroom, she couldn't help but think it was all her fault. As soon as she made sure Dipper was laying back down, she grabbed the field guide off the floor along with both of the known six-fingered volumes. She had to know more about what she thought she had done.

The girl started pacing the floor, appearing more like her twin brother than herself. Mabel would return to the books spread along her sheets every now and again, but go back to the nervous habit both the Pines twins shared. A subtle snore bounced off the walls, making Mabel think her twin had suddenly stopped breathing. She rushed to his side only to be met with a few mumbles that sounded very unlike himself. His twin stepped back and shrugged it off.

"Nah. There's no way! I'm just imagining things…" She trailed off when he began again, this time more clearly.

"Gideon…stop, never…get away withis…" Dipper sleepily mumbled and then, as if a switch was flipped as he turned over, changed his Californian dialect to that of West Texas, "I already have, boy. Mabel Pines will be mine!"

Mabel jumped back in horror, sending her bedside lamp into a million shattered pieces on the rough wood floor. Dipper stirred in his sleep and woke up, still in a daze.

"M-Mabel? What's going on?" he asked groggily and even though his eyes were only halfway open, she could see a glint of fear in them.

Mabel tapped the tips of her fingers together nervously, not even sure what to say. She wasn't entirely sure what happened herself, just that a certain psychic had something to do with it. She looked through all the side effects of the flowers' toxins and this was _definitely _not one of them.

Just as she was about to speak, Dipper's blank thousand-yard stare made a reappearance on his face, forcing him to seize up and begin to tread across the room as if invisible strings were attached to his arms and legs like a marionette. He eyed the collection of books on his sister's bed and lunged uncoordinatedly towards them. Mabel tried to stop him but was hastily thrown to the floor, narrowly missing the shattered remains of her lamp.

Dipper shook his head and snapped back to reality for the moment it took to be sure his sister was okay, then faded back into the fog that controlled him. Mabel grabbed the books and tossed them to the top of the bookshelf, knowing he couldn't reach them. She was the alpha twin after all. Being a good bit stronger and a millimeter taller than him had its perks, even if she didn't live in Canada.

Mabel bounded out the door and through the forest, bent on bringing her brother back from the glowing clutches that controlled him.

* * *

**Hooray! Another creepy chapter to give you nightmares! This was shockingly easy to write. I feel like I'm disturbed or something because writing creepy things comes so easily to me. Review/Fav/Follow! There won't be as big of a gap between chapters as last time!**


	9. Unrecognizable

**After posting this story would be going on what seemed to be a permanent hiatus, I asked for suggestions and I got some from Alisi T. So good news: no longer is this story hiatusing! Also, I deleted chapters that were author's notes, so I have no idea if people who have previously reviewed can review them :( I don't always think things through.**

**Also, sorry about not updating in awhile. I was too busy wearing my Dipper hat around Disney World. That and having people not-so-secretly photograph me 'cause I also wore the same color scheme as Dipper and then the ferry boat captain commented on it. I also murdered a spider as I announced it and walked away, leaving a lady extremely confused. This was all after my sister removed her leg from underneath the sumo wrestler of a man who purposely sat on it. Things get weird in large crowds. I swear I'm not (completely) insane. A word of advice though: don't go to Disney with me unless you're prepared.**

* * *

_Dipper shook his head and snapped back to reality for the moment it took to be sure his sister was okay, then faded back into the fog that controlled him. Mabel grabbed the books and tossed them to the top of the bookshelf, knowing he couldn't reach them. She was the alpha twin after all. Being a good bit stronger and a millimeter taller than him had its perks, even if she didn't live in Canada._

_Mabel bounded out the door and through the forest, bent on bringing her brother back from the glowing clutches that controlled him._

* * *

Mabel neared the edge of the pine trees and drew in a sharp breath. This was it. She strode cautiously past the creepy billboard in front of Gideon Gleeful's house and after a few seconds of hesitation, knocked on the door. The girl looked quizzically at the dented 'pardon this garden' sign for a moment and was met by a mass of silvery white hair with a few streaks of pale blond running through it.

"Why, my marshmella! What a delight to see ya this evenin'!" Gideon chimed.

"Gideon, we have to talk," Mabel's face was dead serious, prompting the chubby demon-child to pull at his collar after bursting into a nervous sweat, "I think you know why I'm here."

"Why what _ever _are you talkin' about, my sweet peach dumplin'?" He tried to look innocent.

Mabel started to shake with anger and threw her hands around chaotically, "Don't play dumb, you—you jerkface! You did something to Dipper!"

He took a step back and countered, "Well, he deserves it! That boy stole somethin' of mine and he will pay recompense for his transgressions!"

"Recom- what for the where now?"

"He will pay! First he stole you away from me and then he has half a mind to steal my most important physical possession!?" His face twisted with anger.

"You mean your dumb book?! You dropped it after your latest murder attempt and _I_ picked it up!" Mabel fumed, "I bet now you want to do the same thing to me as Dipper!"

"Why Mabel, I could never hurt you! We're…" He contorted his face unnaturally and his voice sank to a loud whisper, "_Soulmates_."

"We are not soulmates! Now fix Dipper or I'll—I'll dent your hair!" The crazed girl wildly karate-chopped the air to prove her point until she accidentally swatted a fly. She bent down to apologize to its twitching body while trying to coax it back into the breeze. The boy's expression darkened as he snapped his fingers and smiled confidently.

Mabel laughed in exasperation, "Ha Ha! what are you going to do, aggressively snap at me? I've watched Grease like 200 times so bring it on, bouffant!"

He responded too calmly, "You'll see. I told you I'd get it back one way or another."

As if on cue, an empty shell of Dipper bounded out of the shadowy tree line, eyes faintly glowing an eerie shade of jade that faded when he stepped into the setting sunlight. A glint of gold caught Mabel's eye, then another. In his arms he held not only the southerner's book, but the one he found at the beginning of summer. A stray branch grabbed Dipper's pine tree hat and tossed it to the forest floor, to which he provided no reaction.

Mabel screamed his name across the road, but he remained unfazed, unblinking. Then drawing one foot over the curb in his sickening gait, Dipper Pines entered the roadway. Even the squealing of tires along the pavement didn't stop him in his tracks. Angry black smudges littered the asphalt and the once-still silence of the stale evening air was shattered by shouts from the driver who barely missed the tween. He was immediately silenced by a quick glance of Dipper's empty eyes boring into his and rubber hit the road once more. He made his way down the cracked sidewalk and clumsily stomped his black shoes up the stairs to Gideon's front porch.

"Dipper?" Mabel questioned as she waved a hand across his expressionless face, "C'mon Dip!"

Gideon turned toward her with a devious grin, "I always had a hunch you were the keeper of the three, Pines. Now I know."

* * *

**Short chapter, I know. More updates on other stories soon! I'm back!**


	10. Missing

_"Dipper?" Mabel questioned as she waved a hand across his expressionless face, "C'mon Dip!"_

_Gideon turned toward her with a devious grin, "I always had a hunch you were the keeper of the three, Pines. Now I know."_

* * *

The tall-haired boy held onto his amulet and motioned for Dipper to come closer, holding out his free hand to receive the books. As her twin slowly gave in to Gideon's wordless demands, Mabel jumped in between them, stopping the book-swapping in its tracks. Gideon simply repeated the same motion and his drone pushed Mabel to the ground.

"Dipper, don't listen to him. I know you're in there somewhere," She spoke calmly and slowly as she got back to her feet, "Dipper, no!"

"It's a bit too late for that. Ya see, your brother doesn't remember a single thing about his former life. I made sure of that," He confidently smirked at his bolo tie and raised an eyebrow suggestively, "But if you need…someone to fill the void left in your heart, so to speak, I'll be here."

Mabel shuddered in repulsion as the mysterious books fell from Dipper's into Gideon Gleeful's hands. As a last resort, she grabbed her brother by the shoulders and shook him, trying to break him free from whatever trance he was trapped in. But instead, she found herself hovering several feet off the ground, locked in a glowing force that forced her hands to her sides. The power-hungry kid tucked the matching books into opposite sides of his suitcoat and with a snap and a thought, ordered Dipper to restrain his sister. Gideon lowered the girl in the sweater to the ground as her twin took her arms behind her back and held them steady.

While watching his love struggle against Dipper's increased strength, Gideon couldn't help but take the perfect opportunity by force. As Mabel thrashed about trying to avoid him, the psychic levitated himself a few inches to her resistant face and pressed his lips against hers. She pulled away immediately in disgust and stared at the ground, defeated, as tears welled up in her eyes. As Gideon flipped through the tattered pages of both books, she couldn't stay quiet any more.

"Dipper, I thought you were here to protect me. That book was right. In Gravity Falls, there is no one you can trust," She spoke quietly between sobs, completely unlike her usual optimistic self. The grip loosened from her wrists and she turned to Gideon who was no longer holding his tie's gem, meaning he didn't give a command. Spinning around with a metallic smile gracing her face yet again, she saw Dipper rub his eyes, which were miraculously back to the typical shade of amber.

"M-Mabel?" The boy weakly spoke before glancing around the scene again with a hand to the side of his head, "Tell me this isn't what I think it is."

"DIPPER!" She exclaimed and threw her arms around her brother, "You're back! I thought I lost you!"

"Back from where exactly? And where's my hat?" He questioned as he searched his hair for any signs of his trademark pine tree cap. Mabel didn't answer his question, just kept beaming. Dipper looked past her and scowled.

"Gideon," He snarled between gritted teeth as he moved toward his pasty-faced archenemy, fists clenched at his sides. Fixing his navy vest in front of him with a snap, Dipper marched up to the boy and tapped him on the shoulder, tapping his shoe impatiently whenever he didn't respond immediately. When the nine-year-old finally looked up from the journals, a scowl replaced his look of joy and his right hand immediately jolted to his amulet. Dipper's brown eyes flashed jade for only a split second, but predominantly remained his natural shade of brown as he headed toward Gideon.

The southerner simply smiled and wagged the books in the younger twin's face, "You're still nothing without this here journal! Every time you won, it was because of this!"

Dipper solemnly looked down at his shoes, thinking about every time he used the book's information to gain the upper hand: Ghosts, the Northwests, the size-altering crystals, finding and capturing a nightmarish gremloblin with his own two hands. Just when he was about to admit defeat, the times he didn't need three at all ran through his mind as well. He amassed a small army of clones, outsmarted a legion of homicidal wax figures, faced a mass of living loser candy, and even traveled through time, each time a success. This summer, he grew in ways he couldn't imagine. He was a different person now, and he was sure of it.

Finally bringing his blazing gaze back to Gideon's, Dipper slowly replies, "Don't you _ever _make me mess with my sister _again_."

Swiftly ripping the gem off Gideon's neck, he forced its glow and levitated the maroon volumes into his hand. Instantly flipping to the page in two marked with a colored sketch of the Mystic Amulet, he burned the information into soot with the glow. The white-haired kid stooped to the ground and let the ash run through his tiny fingers.

"MY BOOK! You will pay, Pines, you will pay!"

The younger kid lunged toward Dipper to attain the gem, but he was too late. With the sound of shattering glass and an ominous otherworldly cloud rising out of the remains, the last of the mystic amulets was gone.

"I'll be taking this," Dipper stated, tearing the tomes away from his enemy as he walked down the driveway with his sister, a confident smile plastered onto his face.

"Wow! Maybe you are manly-mannington after all! Getting all business-y and serious," She tried forcing herself to keep a straight face, but it didn't work and she burst out laughing, as per normal.

"Heh heh. Nahh…Wait, you really think so?"

"Of course, silly!"

The compliment caught Dipper by surprise and he awkwardly waved it away, picked up his hat from the edge of the forest, and repositioned it atop his messy hair.

He jabbed his twin in the side with his elbow and smiled bright, "Uhh, thanks for snapping me out of whatever that was back there, Mabel. I owe you one."

"You took care of Gideon. Let's just call it even, broseph," She opened her arms wide, "Awkward sibling hug?"

"Awkward sibling hug."

* * *

**Aww, so cheesy. I couldn't resist. Thank you for the support all throughout this fic's run. Once I finish up Lil Ol' Me, I have an all-new surprise story to share.**

**So prepare yourselves, Fallers. It will be fantastic.**

**-TDN**


	11. Epilogue

**As much as I love the way this story originally ended with 8,888 words (Awesome, right?), I couldn't end this story with the cheesiest mess of sweetness known to mankind. I'm more of a 'leave the true ending to the reader' sort of writer, so EPILOGUE TIME.**

* * *

Mabel turned to her brother and looked at his hands, still riddled with tiny puncture wounds from grabbing the thorned flowers a few days earlier, "I'm sorry, Dipper."

Dipper followed her eyes to his open hands and quickly closed them, "It wasn't your fault, Mabel. I keep telling you, it was Gideon's. Speaking of which, you _did _make those amulets before I destroyed the page, didn't you?"

Mabel shook her head with a slight smile and glanced to her flats as if they were the most interesting thing in the world and kicked up a bit of dust. Dipper stopped next to her and cocked an eyebrow, "Didn't you?"

"I was about to, but I just couldn't get this one sentence out of my mind," She looked up toward the sky and quoted the second book like it was her job, _"The one who created the Mystic Amulet would, in exchange for being able to control others' minds, would lose control of their own."_

_After a moment of thought, the boy stared wide-eyed at his sister, "You don't think…"_

_"__Don't think what, Dippingsauce?" Seemingly oblivious to his revelation, she laughed and continued half-running, half-skipping toward the Shack, "Race you to the house!"_

_He simply shook his head and put on a half-hearted smile that faded almost instantly, "N-Nothing…"_

* * *

Gideon stared intensely at his reflection in the mirror. It was lined with busted light bulbs and pictures of his love, Mabel Pines. He had long since burned the parts featuring her twin brother in rage. The boy looked down and started to grab his last amulet but paused for a moment, like he was trying to remember something.

"It was _you!_ _YOU _did this to me!" He screamed as he ripped the gem away from his neck and threw it to the floor. It cracked slightly and cast a faint, shadowy glow across the floorboards. As if he was guilted into doing so, Gideon walked across the room in silence, picked the tie back up, and returned to his chair.

The child whispered to the amulet he now cradled in his hands, "It's your fault. I wasn't always like this…"

* * *

**This seems familiar, like I've written something like this before…nahhh…**

**-TDN**


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